The Meaning of Hesitation
by yur.makin'.me.sober
Summary: Rude broke the rules. Bad things happen when you break the rules. Being the only one who can carry out the task, Reno is sent to track down his ex-partner and enforce the code. A story of tragedy and friendship. One Shot.


Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, however the writing and idea are works of my own.

**The Meaning of Hesitation**

Hesitation.

For the first time in his life, Reno knew the true meaning of the word. Despite the cold emotionless expression on his face, the hand leveling the gun at his target was shaking. It wasn't from fear, it was because no matter how hard the redhead tried to get the synapses in his brain to fire and send the message to his finger to "pull," it just wasn't working and his muscles were quivering from the pent up energy. His brain just wasn't ready to let go, not ready to fire the trigger… not yet anyway.

Why?

Why did it have to be him? Why did it have to be Tseng who gave the order?

Why? Because this wasn't just any job.

This was Rude.

Rude had broken the one sacred rule of being in the underground. He had broken the one stead fast rule of being a Turk. The bald man had taken it upon himself and decided to "get out." There was no "getting out" for a hired assassin. Once you crossed that line and accepted the job you were owned until the day you died. There was no retirement. There was no pension. There was only death… and it either came for you naturally, or it came gunning for you. Unfortunately redhead's counter-part had chosen the later.

So why did it have to be Reno who was assigned to do the dirty deed? Because there was no one else within the ranks of Shinra who could manage to accomplish the feat, especially on their own. There was only one man fast enough, smart enough, and strong enough to take on the silent killer, and that was his old partner.

So why did it have to be Tseng who gave the order? Because if it was anyone else Reno would't have followed through. Even if it was Old Man Shinra himself, or even the Bastard Prince Rufus that gave the order, the idiot redhead still wouldn't have done it. There were very few people, if only one person, who ranked higher than Rude and that Tseng. Tseng was the only father like figure the redheaded bastard had throughout his entire life. It was because of Tseng that the asshole even got inducted into the Turks which was where he met his best bald headed friend and soon to be dead man. Not only that, tall Wutaian had saved Reno's life on so many occasions that the bastard has lost count several years ago. The one person in this world that the redhead respected most was Tseng, and after everything that man had done for him, Reno could not bring himself to disrespect his mentor. His loyalty and pride didn't allow him to, not even for Rude.

A small sigh escaped past the assholes lips as he lowered his gun slightly. Rude was kneeling before the redhead, accepting that his time of running was up. The jerk was as cool, calm and collected as ever, even with a psychotic killer standing before him with order to kill him. That was Rude for you.

"Why?" Reno snarled at his soon to be ex-partner. "Ya knew da fuckin' rules man. Why'd ya have ta fuckin' do it?" the pitch in the Turks voice was almost pleading. It wasn't really, but if you looked hard enough you could see it. "Jus'… fuckin' why?!"

Rude remained stoic, looking at his friend calmly and answered honestly, "Because I love her."

Reno looked like a bratty child, protesting some adult event that he purposefully went out of his way to not understand, although he knew exactly what his old comrade was talking about. "But… da rules, yo. Ya broke da fuckin' rules, man!"

The bald man just nodded. "I know."

The redhead huffed and sighed again, a small frown crossing his usually expressionless lips. "I hate ya, ya know."

Rude nodded. "I know."

Determined, the assassin raised his gun to level it at the head of the man who used to be his partner. His hand was still shaking. Damn it. The bastard took another deep breath, his eyes lowering defensively as he gave his friend a desperate look. "I'm… gunna miss ya…" the bastard trailed off.

Rude nodded again, this time actually letting a smile fall up on his stoic face. "I know."

There was another long awkward pause before the idiot bastard spoke again. "… was she worth it?" the asshole asked, genuinely curiously.

"Yes," Rude responded in annoyance, his voice quickly becoming cold and scolding. Not at the question, but the fact that the asshole was taking too damn long. "You're stalling," the bald man pointed out.

"Shut up! I fuckin' know!" the redhead snapped back with a growl.

As always, Rude was right. It was time to just get it over with.

Raising his gun again, Reno closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly and expelling all emotion with the air that escaped his body. When the killer opened his eyes again, they were cold as ice, completely void of emotion, his mind only focusing on the task at hand. There were no more lingering memories. There was no more playful banter. There was no more hesitation and Reno's hand was steady once again.

"Goodbye Rude."

The sound of the gun shot echoed loudly in the redhead ears, the ringing stretching out for so long that he didn't even hear his partners lifeless body thump against the floor as it fell. Calmly holstering the weapon, Reno turned his back on the corpse, lifting his lead to look at the cloudless sky as moisture started to run down his cheeks, mingling with the still warm blood that was splattered on his face.

"It's a terrible day fur rain, yo," the assassin mumbled to himself, lowering his goggles to shield his eyes from the blinding sun.


End file.
